What (in today's terms) is the oldest aircraft you've flown on?

Back to Forum
Viewing 15 posts - 31 through 45 (of 58 total)

  • GivingupBA
    Participant

    [quote quote=931382]Always had a soft spot for float planes….[/quote]

    Absolutely agree – I once hired a seaplane with pilot in San Francisco and flew all around the harbours and to loads of great places… highly recommended and I won’t forget it.


    Inthesandpit
    Participant

    as far as my little grey cells will remind me:

    BOAC Super VC10 late 60s LHR JNB via CAI and NBO I think
    BKS Elizabethan in the 60s I was very young think NCL – BFS
    BMA Viscount 1970s LHR-MME
    BNA DC9-15 1970s LHR-MME
    RAF Devon – 1970s RAF Wyton – RAF Shawbury
    RAF Shorts Belfast 1970s Brize Norton – Belize Int via Gander and MIA
    RAF VC10 1970s Belize Int – Nassau
    Maya Airways Islander 1970s – Belize City – San Pedro island
    DAN AIR 1970s Comet4C LGW-HER
    KQA B707 1970s LHR-FCO-NBO
    AFR A300 1970s LHR-CDG
    Brymon HP7 Herald 1970s LHR-NQY
    BAW Trident 3 1980s LHR-GLA
    MAS DC10-30 1980s LHR-FRA-KWI-KUL
    Eastern B727 1980s EA EYW-MIA
    Brymon DHC6 1980s PLH-EXT-LGW
    Air Ecosse SD330 1980s LGW-LBA-MME
    PAA B742 1980s LHR-JFK
    PAA A300 1980s JFK-MIA
    BAW B732 1990s LHR-IST
    Green Air TU154 1990s IST-DLM
    THY A310 1990s DLM-IST

    After that 1990s onwards on B742, B757, B734/4/5 and onto the modern day stuff


    GivingupBA
    Participant

    [quote quote=931592]as far as my little grey cells will remind me….. [/quote]

    That’s quite a list. And the Comet, and especially the TU154, make me jealous… I flew on Aeroflot several times (long ago, and only on the IL-62) and the flights and the journeys overall were ALWAYS so memorable (!! ahem) that I really wish now I’d flown more with them, and also flown on more USSR aircraft.

    This thread is great and I’m really enjoying reading through it.


    canucklad
    Participant

    [quote quote=931384]Always had a soft spot for float planes….[/quote]

    Definitely on my bucket list…..is to fly on a float plane

    Considering, my childhood skies and still to this day when I return home to Vancouver ( Richmond to be precise ) are always buzzing to the sound of float planes busying about their business on the Fraser.

    Top drinking tip if visiting Vancouver ……. The Flying Beaver on the other side of the airport (next to the South Terminal) is definitely an experience to be enjoyed,, especially if you love float planes .

    I’ll answer my own question I posed on the 1st page of this topic.
    Some of you guys have been privileged enough to fly Concorde!!

    On many an occasion I have flown on the world’s first supersonic airliner –CF – CPG

    also remembered flying on an Air BC Dash 7 from SEA to YVR and back


    Folium
    Participant

    [quote quote=931633]

    Always had a soft spot for float planes….

    Definitely on my bucket list…..is to fly on a float plane [/quote]

    Not sure where you are based but a great way to experience a floatplane is to go from Key West out to Dry Tortuga.
    Great views on the way, land outside the fort and you have the place all to yourself until the daily ferry boat finally arrives.


    GivingupBA
    Participant

    [quote quote=931633]On many an occasion I have flown on the world’s first supersonic airliner –CF – CPG… [/quote]

    You really had me puzzled with “CF – CPG”, I had to look it up: a DC-8 in a supersonic dive for 16 seconds! That’s impressive. And thanks for the tip about The Flying Beaver, I’m through Vancouver once in a long while.


    canucklad
    Participant

    [quote quote=931636]Not sure where you are based but a great way to experience a floatplane is to go from Key West out to Dry Tortuga.[/quote]

    I’m now based and live under the approach to EDI.
    My planned bucket list as far as taking to the air on a Float Plane is to book a flight for me and my girlfriend from Vancouver harbour to Victoria Harbour and then return to YVR’s float plane base on the South Arm of the Fraser ( My childhood backyard) and have a drink or few at the Flying Beaver which doubles up as Harbour Airs terminal at YVR.

    But first, there’s the small task of finding a girlfriend that’s worth investing in the trip to meet the family back in BC : )


    Stuart
    Participant

    What a fun subject! Let me delve back:
    BA trident GLA-LHR-MLA First flight as a 5 year old
    Aviogenex TU134 GLA-LJU
    JAT Boeing 727 on way back (school ski trip)
    DC9 with Aviaco, Inex Adria and Brit Midland back in the 1980s
    BAC 1-11 and DC10 with B Cal
    Airbus A300 on Olympic LHR-ATH


    ASK1945
    Participant

    The title of this thread can be interpreted in more than one way, and some of the reminiscences being expressed here reflect that.

    I wrote earlier about some early flights I took around 1950, on British Air Ferries. However, I did take an earlier flight – around Ringway Airport, Manchester (as it was then called) in a DC3, which was used at weekends for short “taster” flights around the airport. These were very popular and there was a waiting list for tickets.

    Of course the planes were not that old (in today’s terms) at the time !


    cwoodward
    Participant

    Canucklad’s mention of (float) seaplanes ‘Definitely on my bucket list…..is to fly on a float plane’
    reminded me of a once in a lifetime trip that I had totally forgotten.

    Back in 1974 our Sydney office was very busy and I needed to spend 50% of my time there. I purchased a flat in Balfour Road Rose Bay opposite the very long established seaplane base and the Royal Sydney Golf Club.
    Seeing these large Shorts Sunderland flying boats land and take of on the bay was so fascinating that eventually I and and a friend took a trip on an Ansett Sunderland S25 to Lord Howe island an back. (About 800 km and close to a 3 hour flight)
    Thanks Canucklad for bringing this fantastic experience alive again.

    The history of this base is interesting in itself as flights departed from there to Europe and USA in earlier times. The Rose bay base is still open and thriving featuring I understand a very good cocktail bar but now of course using much smaller seaplanes.
    If you find yourself in Sydney Canucklad…..


    Geeman
    Participant

    Great fun topic, of late the oldest plane I had flown on was an Air Pacific (now Fiji Airways) 747-400, according to the FJ crew at the time it was the oldest 747-400 in the air, it was one of the first original SQ 747-400’s. It sure was an old beast. I understand it is now sitting in the desert in Arizona. By the way the Fiji Airways fleet (mainly A330’s and 737’s) is now one of the youngest/modern in the sky and a credit to this small nation national airline. Great friendly crew too.


    TiredOldHack2
    Participant

    [quote quote=931001]My favourite would be BA’s Concorde but BOAC’s Super VC-10 and SAS’ DC-9/80 would not be far behind.[/quote]

    Only just caught up with this thread – I’m supposed to be emailed when replies drop in but it isn’t working.

    The Convair 990 was a financial disaster – it was slightly faster than the 707 but a horrendous cost in fuel and they only sold a few dozen. I never flew Concorde, but loved the VC10 and I always thought it was the fastest subsonic airliner on the Transatlantic routes?


    PanAmBoy
    Participant

    I lived in Newfoundland as a child and travelled to NYC several times a year. So we flew PanAm out of Gander to Idlewild (aka JFK). Mostly DC6 and DC7s – and I fell in love with every stewardess. My father flew the PanAm Flying Clippers (Boeing 314s) from Boxwood, Newfoundland to LaGuardia’s Marine Terminal in the late 1930s, exceptionally during the war, and maybe for a year or so after.

    Sometimes we took Trans Canada Airline’s Canadair North Stars, and later both wonderful Vickers aircraft.

    Yes, I’m spoiled.


    AMcWhirter
    Participant

    [quote quote=932259]The Convair 990 was a financial disaster – it was slightly faster than the 707[/quote]

    Both aircraft were designed for different missions.

    Convair 990 was used on short- and medium-haul routes whereas the 707 was designed for long-haul. The Convair 990 has never beaten for speed and once set a record of 675 mph (Mach 0.97)

    [quote quote=932259]but loved the VC10 and I always thought it was the fastest subsonic airliner on the Transatlantic routes?[/quote]

    I also recall it being faster across the Atlantic then the equivalent B707s/DC8s.

    But the VC-10s drawback was that it did not have the range to fly Europe to US West Coast non-stop whereas the B707 could manage that long sector.

    BOAC would use its VC-10s for non-stops to the US East Coast and, I believe, Chicago.


    barnacles
    Participant

    Around thirty years ago I was on a Cameroon Airlines flight to Europe, an ageing 747, and several times during the flight thought I was about to meet my maker (sudden changes in altitude, odd noises, random deployment of speed-brakes, nervous glances exchanged between cabin crew members, etc). More recently – three or four years ago – I had a couple of thrilling flights with Buffalo Airways, who still operate – or did then – a DC-3 between Hay River and Yellowknife in north-west Canada. At the time, chatting to the pilots through the half-open curtain between the flight deck and the passenger cabin, they feared for the service, due to new and burdensome Health & Safety requirements. Would welcome an update.

Viewing 15 posts - 31 through 45 (of 58 total)
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Business Traveller March 2024 edition
Business Traveller March 2024 edition
Be up-to-date
Magazine Subscription
To see our latest subscription offers for Business Traveller editions worldwide, click on the Subscribe & Save link below
Polls